A while back the business where I work was bought, and reopened with a new owner. The guy who would later become by boss and I were the first employees. Originally, this guy was great. He would bust his butt every day, and it was honestly fun to work with him. You could sense his enthusiasm. It was fun, energizing time, and he was super cool. So much so that everyone gave him a vote of confidence when it came time for the new owner to pick the head. Everyone said “Yes, him!” because we believed in him.
Well, unfortunately, this guy became drunk with power. He went from being the hardest working employee to the laziest employee. At his absolute worst, he would come in and spend his entire day chatting with people, smoking, goofing off, and acting like a fool. He spent almost no time doing his job.
It got to the point that he would disappear for hours without telling anyone, and than wonder why we were so upset with him. And when I say he was acting like a fool — I truly mean it. He was a genuine idiot, frequently injuring himself. He’s frequently over react to things, which would cause bigger, worse things to happen. For example, one time he got a cut. He over reacted an in the process he gave himself a gash. He just couldn’t carry himself with a composed manner. He had to be over the top and dramatic.
And he never took responsibility for his own failures. It was always someone else’s fault. Every time. Even if someone had nothing to do with the thing, it will suddenly become that someone’s fault because the boss said so.
He’d criticize people for taking too many breaks on the way out of the building taking his 15th break of the day. He’d criticize people for being on their phones when he’d spend his day texting and surfing Instagram. He is a hypocrite to the extreme. “Bad” things are allowed when he does them. When someone else does the same thing you are branded a terrible employee.
And he loves to watch sports on his phone while “working.” He spent more time watching games than actually working. And when he starts hooting and hollering or shouting like a fool — sometimes right in our ears — he is loud enough that everyone can hear him. One time I actually lost hearing in my ear for a moment. Like, literal ringing in my ears because he screamed so loud right next to me.
He was overheard using racial slurs and even making fun of workers for having mental disabilities. Whenever he was confronted, he’d just accuses people of over-reacting. He never acknowledges that what he does is wrong.
He is really condescending to everyone. He constantly insults and berates the staff. He constantly calls everyone lazy. And then he acts like he’s put out when people get angry with him over these remarks. Like he doesn’t know that what he says is hurtful and cruel.
If you make a mistake of any kind he blows it out of proportion and makes a big deal out of it to the owner and everyone else. He stresses everyone out so much that most of the original staff have already left. And the remainder are on their way out too.
He is a truly terrible and irresponsible boss, always trying to take shortcuts to make his life a bit easier. He claims that he cares about the business and the staff but he only cares about his authority and his salary.
I am honestly debating with myself about leaving. The only reason that I am still here is because I like the owner. But if it wasn’t for the owner, I would really be on my way out. I do not like being constantly called lazy, even in a joking manner. Considering the effort that I put into keeping this place going, being mocked, called lazy, or having him standing over my shoulder and criticizing me is just a slap in the face.
I can’t understand how he avoids getting terminated. You’d think the owner would ask him why everyone else quit.